"Not The Governor's Police Squad"

The Senate is considering a bill to put the superintendent of the State Police more under the Senate’sÂ control.

The bill (S.6364),Â introduced Wednesday by Sen. Mike Nozzolio, R-Fayette, would end the practice of having the superintendent serve indefinitely at the governor’s pleasure, and instead make the job a three-year appointment, subject to Senate renewal. Currently, only the initial appointment is subject to Senate consent.

The bill follows Monday’s AG report that said aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer improperly used State Police to create records on Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s travel, going directly to Acting Superintendent Preston Felton, who in turn went outside the chain of command to comply.

Here’s Nozzolio’s justification for the bill:

“The Superintendent of the State Police is the most important law enforcement official in New York State and as such the position of Superintendent must be accountable to all branches of government and most importantly the people of New York State.

“By changing the law to set a fixed term subject to advice and consent of the State Senate, we are holding accountable the State Police and their
Superintendent on behalf of the people of New York State.

“The State Police is not the Governor’s police squad and this important reform will ensure that professionalism, accountability and integrity continue to be the hallmarks of the New York State Police.”